Machine for sealing bulbs



June 10, 194-7. c1, EfSLER MACHINE FOR SEALING BULBS .Fild June 15, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l INYENTUR ATTD NE Y.

June 10, 1947.

C. EISLER MACHINE FOR SEALING BULBS Filed June 15, 1944 s Sheets-Sheet s INVENTUR ATI'D NEY Patented June 10, 1947 UNITEDVSTATES PATENT OFFICE 2,421,929 MACHINE FOR. SEALING BULBS Charles Eisler, South Orange, N. J. Application June 13, 1944, Serial No. 540,112 (Cl. 492) 1 Claim. 1 F This invention relates to an improved machine for sealing bulbs used for lighting or electronic purposes and has for its object a machine that. is simple in construction as compared with previous forms of this type of machine. l The simplicity of the operating mechanism is responsible for a greater degree of utility not only in the number of parts but in the rate of production.

Another object of the machine is to produce a more uniform product by reason of the steady movement of the bulb carrying mechanism which is rotated continuously as compared. to the intermittent or step-by-step movement of prior machines. In some cases the frequent stopping and starting of the machine result in'rnisplacement or shifting of parts in former machines with conse quent greater wear'on the bulb carrying and heating mechanism.

The invention is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which drawings Figure l is a plan view of the improved sealing machine. Figure 2 is a face view of the rotary disc of the disc valve of the gas regulating valve, Figure 2a is a similar view of the fixed disc of the same valve. Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the machine shown in Figure 1. Figure 4 is a section through the valve and gas connections. Figure 5 is a plan View of the machinasectionized through line V-V in Figure 3. Figure 6 is a section of the elements employed in the periodic stoppage or" the rotation of the sealing heads and bulb supports. Figure 7 is a section taken on line VII-VII in Figure 6.

The machine is designed to carry rotating bulb supports of the usual kind on a spider, the spider being continuously rotated at a proper speed to enable the removal and installation of bulbs on the bulb supports. The spider also supports the burners that are of the usual commercial type and which are supplied with gas at the proper time intervals through. a valve that has a part rotating with or rotated by the, spider. The fuel valve is of the conventional type and the machine is characterized by the combination that produces more satisfactory products in a machine of comparatively few parts as compared with the former step-by-step machines.

Another object of the machine is the provision of means whereby, during the continuous rotation of the spider, each bulb support ceases its individual rotation while passing the loading and removal stations during which time sealed bulbs are removed from the machine by an operator and bulbs not yet sealed are supplied to the machine.

The machine shown in the drawings is of the 8-head type but this exemplification, with suitable modifications, applies to a machine with any number of heads. The machine has a fixed base il including a circular trough 12 for receiving particles of glass after the necks of the glass bulbs have been melted off. The base includes a base bottom M provided with an integral central boss iii; The. boss 13 supports the vertical central post or king shaft l5 which is heldin place by suitable means such as the set screw IT. The post 55 is provided with a shoulder l6.

Rotatable on the post I5 is the hollow sleeve shaft ill on which is securely mounted the spider 59, secured by the set screw 20. Inside the spider andon the sleeve shaft IE is secured the gear 2 I, held by set screw 22, which gear 2| meshes with gear 123 on the shaft 251 the latter being journalled in the vertical'bearing 25. At the lower part of the shaft 24, below the base bottom is the worm wheel 26 driven by the worm 21 which is on the main drive shaitifi. The drive shaft is journalled in. the bearings '29 and 3@ which depend from the bottom id of the base ll. 7 The worm wheel all is mounted on the shaft 28 and is driven by the worm Men the shaft. 33, which shaft also carries the sheave 34 driven by motor 3'! through belt drive 35 overmotor pulley 36.

the above-described transmission mechanism pi vides continuous rotation to the spider and no indexing device such as 2.. Geneva wheel or a barrelcam is interposed. Consequently, the sealing headsdo not dwell at successive stations provided with stationary burners, as is the case in the conventionally driven sealing machine. It is necessary therefore that the burners be carried along .by the spider, together with the sealingheads, and that the gas be fed to the burners through a valve co-rotative with the spider, the gas being periodically cut off and supplied by the mechanism oflthe burner.

The sealing heads are of the conventional type and are rotatedon the. spider by the following On the main drive shaft. 28 is mounted the spiral gear .38 whichis inmesh with the spiral gear 39 on the vertical shaft 4i! which is journalled in the bearing ll. On the shaft 40 is also mounted the spur gear 42 which meshes with the ring gear 53. to the gear 45 and rotated therewith, being secured by the bolts or pins 44. Gear 45 engages the slip gears 46 carried by'the gear hubs 41, the slip gears-being frictionally co-rotative with the gear hubs by the friction pads 48 which are slidable in the slots 49 of the gear hubs, braking The ring gear 43 is attachedaction being assured by the compression springs 50 which urge the pads in contact with the inner rim surface 5| of the ring gear 45. The sealing rod 52, in each case, is slidable and co-rotative with the gear hub 41 by the key 53. The gear hub is retained in place by the bracket 54 which is secured to the inside of the spider. The sealing rod is guided in the bearing 55 of the bracket 54 and in the bearing 56 of the spider.

The sealing head 51, in each case, is fixedly mounted on the sealing rod and rotates therewith and supports the usual bulb support 58, the bulb supports being spaced around the outer edge of the spider. The raising and lowering of the sealing rods and sealing heads is effected in the usual manner by the track 59, and the air-blast for the usual cut-off operation after the sealing of the bulb is supplied through the duct 60 from the air-supply tube 6!.

As the spider continues to rotate the sealing heads will be carried around, each rotating on its own axis. The gas is applied to the burners ,at the proper intervals by means of a disc valve the burners are ofi or on, the timely shut-off of the burners being taken care of by the disc valve as hereinafter described. It is imperative of course that the auto-rotation of the sealing heads be interrupted long enough to allow their unloading and loading as they pass by the operator.

Accordingly, rotation of the sealing heads is stopped by the pins 62 which are fixed in place and depend from the gear hub 41. When either of these pins pass the rail 63, it is stopped from rotating on its axis and causes the gear 46 to slip on the friction pads 48. The gear is thereby permitted to rotate while the hub, together with the sealing rod is prevented from rotating. Although usually one pin on each hub is sufficient it is advisable in the present instance to employ additional turn before effective contact with the stop rail would take place and the sealing head, travelling with the continuously rotating spider would pass on much farther than was originally intended, which would shorten the time available for the operations of loading and unloading. As the time allotted is short (four and one-half seconds in the machine illustrated) the possible curtailment has been reduced by providing two or more pins.

The glass bulbs are subjected to the usual processes of pre-heating, hot-flame, and annealing, each of which require ditfferent intensities of fire and correspondingly varied mixtures of gas, oxygen and air. Thus for each sealing head three difierent sets of burners are provided and installed upon the spider, designated by the numbers 64, and 66, to which gas, air, and oxygen are supplied by the corresponding tubes 64a, 65a and 66a. The duration of the gas flow is controlled by the usual form of disc valve 61 which has the stationary upper disc 68 provided with segmental grooves or ducts 69, 10 and H, and the rotating lower disc 12 which is mounted on and rotates with the sleeve shaft I8. The lower disc is provided with the radially disposed set of egress ducts 69a, 10a and Na through which the gas mixtures enter the burner tubes 64a, 65a and 66a.

The gases, (air, gas and oxygen) are fed to the segmental ducts of the upper disc through the openings 13, 14 and 15 from the mixers 16, i1 and 1'8, to which the gases are supplied by the tubes 19, and 8| from their respective supply pipes BI, 82 and 83. The arcuate lengths of the ducts in the upper disc determine the duration of their registering with the holes in the lower valve disc with a corresponding duration of activity of the burners. It is of course understood that after each shut-off of the gas in full force from a burner the burners are lighted by a small pilot burner which is not shown on the drawings since such means are well-known to those skilled in the art.

It is evident that various changes may be made in the shape and the proportion of parts zvithout departing from the scope of the invenion.

I claim:

A machine for sealing bulbs comprising a base, a spider mounted on the base, means for continuously rotating the spider, spaced bulb supports rotatably mounted at the rim of the spider, in-

terconnected means for rotating the bulb supports relative to the spider, burners mounted on the spider for directing flame on the bulbs in the supports, means for intermittently supplying gas to the burners, said bulb supports including hub members, said interconnected bulb support r0- tating means including a ring gear, means to constantly rotate the latter, a slip gear rotatably disposed on a hub member and in mesh with the ring gear, said hub member having slots, friction pads slidably disposed in the slots of the hub member, spring means normally urging the pads into contact with the slip gear to rotate the hub therewith, a pin depending from the hub, and a stop rail interposed in the path of rotation of the depending pin to stop rotation of the bulb supports at the stations of the machine at which the rail is disposed.

CHARLES EISLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,577,536 Parker et a1. Mar. 23, 1926 2.050,!)88 Dichter Aug. 4, 1936 1,585,913 Higgins May 25, 1926 

